Houghton County has been experiencing a significant surge in COVID-19 cases recently. As providers in our community, we are working tirelessly to protect you and your family. We understand that some families have been advised that students may return to school “after 24 hours free of symptoms” while other workers or students have been advised to return to work or school if their COVID test is negative.

We want to be clear that our providers are advising patients to follow the CDC guidelines on when to quarantine and when to return to school or work.

People who are not fully vaccinated and are determined to be a close contact of someone with COVID-19 need to quarantine.

• Get tested and quarantine immediately for 10 days from the date of their last exposure.

• If the initial test is negative, test again 5-7 days after the date of their last known exposure and continue to quarantine for the full 10 days.

• Isolate immediately if you develop symptoms of COVID-19 or test positive and notify the school so that the

school can conduct any necessary contact tracing. You can leave isolation 10 days after symptoms appeared and you are free of fevers for more than 24 hours without the use of fever-relieving medications and other symptoms of COVID are improving.

• If you do not develop symptoms of COVID-19 and do not test positive or are not tested, you may go back into public spaces, including school, on day 11.

People who are fully vaccinated do not need to quarantine if they come into close contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19. Fully vaccinated people exposed to COVID-19 should:

• Get tested 5-7 days after their last known exposure even if they don’t have symptoms,

• Wear a mask indoors in public for 14 days following their last exposure or until their test result is negative, and

• Monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 for 14 days and get tested and isolate immediately if they develop symptoms of COVID-19.

Keeping sick students out of school for the full 10-day period recommended by the CDC helps keep more of our local students in school by preventing the rapid spread of the Delta variant. We are here to answer any of your questions and to help keep our community safe.

Yours in Health,